Turkey’s ”European vocation” in jeopardy

TURKEY - In Brief 26 Apr 2017 by Atilla Yesilada

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Last year, European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution to suspend Turkey’s accession negotiations with EU. Yesterday, The Parliamentary Assembly of European Council (PAEC) reduced Turkey’s membership to “monitoring” status, citing the State of Emergency and the detention of large number of journalists among other things. Reliable sources claim EU Expansion Commissioner Johannes Hahn will try to get a mandate from Foreign Ministers of EU during Friday’s summit to find an alternative to Turkey’s accession. I don’t think EU ministers would go that far but it is quite possible that they issue a stern warning to Ankara to comply with Copenhagen Criteria or with the mandate of the PAEC. I’m certain that Turkey’s journey to accession is over. I’m afraid Turkey’s “European vocation”, i.e. its unique dual status as a large Moslem country enjoying European heritage is also in jeopardy. AKP responded to PAEC decision in anger calling it a conspiracy. It certainly has no desire to address the deficiencies mentioned in the decision. Moreover, EU Affairs Minister Mr. Omer Celik states quite openly that EU will be given a final deadline as May to lift visa requirements and end its support for PKK and Gulenists lest Turkey revokes the Refugee Readmission Treaty. The fact that Ankara imagines it can dictate terms to EU demonstrates very vividly the state of delusion it is in, severely diminishing my hope of a reconciliation. I sense two camps emerging within EU regarding “the Turkey question”. The first camp wants to scrap accession, but to build a new relationship based on expanding Customs Union to agriculture and services. The other proposes contemplating economic or politic...